[Editorial] Snake bite—the neglected tropical disease

September 19, 2015

The Lancet 386, 9999 (2015)

Author: The Lancet

Last week, Médecins Sans Frontières drew attention to the fact that by mid-2016 sub-Saharan Africa will run out of one of the most effective treatments for snake bite, Fav-Afrique. Sanofi Pasteur stopped manufacturing the antivenom last year, and stockpiles will expire in June, 2016. Fav-Afrique is the only antivenom proven to be safe and effective to treat envenoming by all the different types of snake in sub-Saharan Africa, where an estimated 30 000 people die from snake bite and 8000 end up with amputations every year.